19 July '10

“It was like The Wire with Lancashire accents and butter pies.” Read on for the verdict on last night’s TV.

DISPATCHES: CATCHING THE GUNRUNNERS, C4

“Probably the best offering of the weekend…They almost spoilt it, though, by trying to tie it in with the recent Cumbria shootings, presumably in an attempt to make it newsworthy.”Sam Wollaston, The Guardian

“[It] was like The Wire with Lancashire accents and butter pies. Though there were attempts to present the film as an audit of a mounting social problem…it was really just a case history of one complicated bust and a lot of Lancashire low-lifes.”Tom Sutcliffe, The Independent

BRIAN CLOUGH: THE GREATEST MANAGER ENGLAND NEVER HAD, BBC2

“I know he was good, but not to the extent that it’s a good idea to cobble it all together into a film again.”Sam Wollaston, The Guardian

“Unless I was missing something there was no anniversary, no insight, let alone any new information to justify this particular and perfunctory account.”Andrew Billen, The Times

“It’s basically the odd one out round from Never Mind the Buzzcocks stretched into a whole programme…and made a lot more rubbish, because Bradley Walsh is no Simon Amstell; and Pete, Laurence etc are nothing like the funny people they have on NMTB. I predict a short life.”Sam Wollaston, The Guardian

“Unfortunately, the creators of the format have neglected to come up with any kind of incentive that might persuade the audience at home to stick around till the end.”Tom Sutcliffe, The Independent

HEARTBEAT/TAGGART, ITV1

“What makes these two long-running shows so successful is that they give the audience what they want at the same time as surprising them.”Matt Baylis, Daily Express